Another heated clothes airer question (sorry!)

[Madratlady]

So I want to save money by not using the tumble dryer. I could buy a heated clothes airer. Could some of you people who already have one answer me a few questions about them?

• which one would you recommend? Lakeland? Something else?

• how quickly do they dry stuff? Could I put it on in the morning and have dry clothes by evening?

• can you fit a full load on one?

• does the water coming off your clothes make the room damp?

• some people have said on other threads that you need to put a sheet over, does that mean literally drape a bed sheet over or what? I see that some of them come with covers, are those better?

[LetUsPrey]

I have the Lakeland three tier one.

I would say yes, stuff put on it in the morning would be dry by evening.

I can fit a full load on mine.

Not noticed the room it's in being damp.

I don't put a sheet over it but I know some people do.

In short, I bloody love my Lakeland drier and am very grateful to MN for pointing me in its direction

[QOD]

Pleased to see this as I have been dithering this weekend, I have a voucher for a whole £5 off too ...

It'll take years to pay for itself but for me it's the convenience. My dh is an XL/XXL and I can't tumble his clothes as then they aren't long enough for his giant self.

[Madratlady]

Thanks. I am very tempted but it's just the initial cost that puts me off, and the fact that our house is prone to being damp. I'd probably get the lakeland one.

[Madratlady]

I was hoping it would pay for itself by reducing my electricity bills a bit, especially with a baby and re-useable nappies over winter

[beachesandbuckets]

I am about to buy one! Is the £5 off a voucher code, and if so, can you pretty please share? X

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Do you have radiators you can use? Apart from some people not liking how they look its no different - would contribute to increased humidity levels just as much as a heated airer. (We've found the increased humidity useful for dds asthma, just need to make sure it doesn't get high enough to cause mould)

[Madratlady]

I do have radiators but the heating isn't fantastic and the room isn't as warm if the radiators are draped with wet washing. It's a very cold and badly insulated house. I would also think I could put more washing on one of these if I had one than on the radiators.

[BackforGood]

I'm confused as to having a heated airer on all day is going to save on electricity.... ?

[starlingsintheslipstream]

Don't forget if you go through the Mumsnet Partner offers link you can get £50 towards a case of wine, so a possible 6 bottles free (£4.99 postage to pay).

here

[Madratlady]

Back I think they use a lot less electricity than a tumble dryer. I'm sure I read that they use less than a light bulb.

A regular clothes horse isn't an option before anyone suggests that, stuff takes a couple of days to dry at least. I dried some socks on it this week and they were barely dry on day 3.

[BackforGood]

I'd be intersted to see some official test figures on that. I presume the consumption per hour would be quite a bit lower, but then I'd also think that you were going to have them on for many, many more hours ?

Not criticising btw - more wondering if it would save me money

[MistressIggi]

I gave in last week and ordered one. Hasn't come yet though (hurry up, lakeland). Think it's meant to cost about 5p an hour?
I don't have a tumble dryer and am planning not to use the radiators as much this year. We will all wear jumpers and huddle around the airer!
On website had option of some cake decorating thing or the naked wines voucher.

[Madratlady]

Back good point, I'm not sure where to look but I'd like to see whether I'd really be saving much before I actually buy one. If I find any official figures I'll link them.

[Madratlady]

I'm guessing they can be used for a couple of hours then switched off and used like a normal airer? In which case 5p/hour which is what I've seen as the estimated cost wouldn't be too bad.

[FlouncyMcFlouncer]

My neighbour has just bought one of these www.tornadodry.com/ and says seems good so far. Dries stuff within a couple of hours. She wqs considering the JML one but this was cheaper. I have a tumble dryer but am thinking of getting one of these for the stuff that can't go in it - DC seem to think having their hoodie sleeves shrunk is Not On.

[FlouncyMcFlouncer]

sorry messed up the link. www.tornadodry.com/

[bigTillyMint]

I have just bought the 3tier Lakeland one as I am so fed up of clothes drying all over the house on radiators. It is fab and dries a load in 3 or 4 hours.
However, DH and DD are moaning - they say it is taking up too much room. DH says we have been using radiators for years - what's the problem?
So it may have to go back

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I've just had a quick look at how much it might cost to run a tumble dryer. For a 3kw model it would cost about 35-40p per hour. (Depending on your tariff). The new a++ rated vented models use about half that so you could be looking at 20p an hour. That tornado thing costs 9p an hour, so not much difference between that an a super efficient tumble dryer but of course the a++ dryers are very expensive.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

(Based on the fact that you would use the tornado thing for 2-3 hours to get a load to run as compared to about an hour for the dryer)

[bigTillyMint]

But that Tornado thing looks like it only dries a few things at a time. So you would need more time?

No space for a tumble drier in our kitchen. Well not the way it is set up ATM!

[yeghoulsandlittledevils]

I have a 3 tier Lakeland drier. Not the type with a cover (like the tornado). I suppose you could put a sheet over to keep the humidity down, but ours is in a drafty conservatory so we dont need to. We can fit 2 full loads on (shirts go on hangers and hang around the edge.
Have not needed to use it very much, but yes it can dry most light/small things in a few hours. Bigger, heavier things like jeans need to be moved a bit after a few hours (if left lying flat on 'shelf' if you want them quickly. I haven't had it long enough to try it out in winter, but will probably get another one soon. It is sturdier than another non heating) airer we had of similar design but still not sturdy enough to take much weight unevenly. Have noticed whwre teens have hung washing on one side it can twist and be in danger of falling over.

[yeghoulsandlittledevils]

I'm going to get a timer switch for ours so that I don't leave it on all the time by accident.

[chickydoo]

I use my Lakeland one every day.
I don't like to put everything in the tumble drier ( shrinkage) don't like to put things over radiators ( can make them rusty)
The airer is great. When people come over it's easy to put away.
It's usually in the kitchen, but could just as easily go in in a bedroom.
Love it!

[TheUnstoppableWindmill]

I have the 3 tier lakeland and it's absolutely fantastic for drying reusable nappies. They dry really fast and you can use it for all-in-ones/wraps/bamboo nappies that couldn't go on radiators or in a dryer. I'd say you can get a full load on but it probably wouldn't dry that fast- It takes a while to work out how to hang and space maximum stuff for quickest drying time, and to dry things overnight for me it's more like 1/2-2/3 of a full load (but I do very full loads!) I drape a dry double sheet over it and it really helps. You can indeed switch it off and use it as a normal airer but as the rungs are very close together it doesn't work brilliantly for that- best to transfer to a normal airer. Ours is in the draughty conservatory so damp is not an issue- might be worth having windows open a crack while it's on. I love it!

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

If it was on for over night it would perhaps cost the same as a a non energy efficient tumble dried load? You would only need it on for 8 hours to be the same cost as an 3kw drier being on for an hour.

So whilst there are advantages that people have found here, it won't necc save you money.